Fuel tanks of modern motor vehicles often have extremely irregular shape and disposition. This, in one sense, results in the fact that the indication of the level of fuel in the tank, typically provided by a sensor of one of the various known types, is not easily convertible into a reliable indication of the quantity of fuel available. Unreliability in the information relating to the quantity of fuel available has a particularly negative impact on the motor vehicle user upon starting out (beginning of a trip or journey) and, during journeys, on inclined roads.
Systems for indicating fuel level currently in use include mechanical, electromechanical or electronic “damping” means which makes it possible to attenuate the oscillations of the indication provided to the use upon variation in the level of the fuel in the tank due to swashing and in general, to oscillations in the level due to maneuvers or dynamic conditions involving rapid variations of the vehicle such as accelerations, braking, etc. Such systems thus allow rapid dynamic variations in the level of the fuel which, in fact, do not correspond to effective variations in the quantity of fuel available in the tank, to be “filtered.”
Systems for indicating fuel level also typically include moving parts, which result in complexity and reliability problems. Thus, there exists a need for a simple system for determining fuel level in a fuel tank of a motor vehicle that is reliable.